STREETSBORO, Ohio - May 6, 2019 - s4story -- Hope Bolinger, having started writing novels at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy her junior year, attempted to break into the publishing industry by her senior year. She quickly learned how difficult it was to land a literary agent or a book deal and self-published her first novel Unmasked before she graduated CVCA.

She left to pursue a professional writing degree at Taylor University where she published more than 300 works (short stories, articles, poems, etc.) in places such as Crosswalk and Writer's Digest, but she still wanted to pursue her dream of getting a novel published.

While sitting in a Gen-Ed class, something the professor said in the 70+ slide presentation on an ancient text from Babylon known at the Book of Daniel.

"Daniel and his friends would've been 15 or 16 when they were taken into Babylon captivity to start their three year education."

Wow. That sounds like high school, Hope thought. And they stood strong, even when the King tried to kill them for not conforming. Thus, the idea for Blaze was born.

Hope wrote the arsonist boarding school drama in 45 days, whilst being employed at four jobs and taking summer classes. She finished in time for a conference, which she received a scholarship to attend.

She met with a traditional publisher at the Maranatha Writer's Conference and pitched the book she'd completed in summer of 2017. They reviewed it, sent back several edits, and eventually offered a deal.

Blaze comes out June 2019, and is available for preorder until June 3rd.